Lamp bridge forming machine with wire cutting and guiding means

ABSTRACT

A method and means for automatically assembling lamp bridges and similar articles consisting of a glass rod or other support element having several short wires embedded in the rod or element. A machine is provided having a rotating turret mounting a series of spaced wire support dies. These dies are loaded with a predetermined number of short wires at a series of vertically oriented wire feed heads. The wire feed heads are arranged for precisely positioning and feeding short lengths of wire into the dies and are arranged to handle such wires of varying diameters and lengths. After the dies are filled at the wire feed heads with the appropriate number of wires, the rotating die support turret then moves the wire filled dies first to a rod feeding station where rods are loaded onto the dies and thereafter the dies are moved to a series of rod heating and pressing stations where the wire ends are imbedded in the support rods.

United States Patent [72] Inventors William T. Engel 3,128,529 4/1964 Cropp et al. 221/1 Union; 3,241,578 3/1966 Heisler 140/93 I N sonderland Bergenfield Primary Examiner-S. Leon Bashore [21] p Assistant Examiner.l. B. l'lardaway [22] Filed Sept 1967 AttorneyNorman N. Holland I Patented Jan. 12, 1971 [73] Assignee Kahle Engineering Co.

Union City, NJ. acorporauon of New Jersey ABSTRACT: A method and means for automatically assembling lamp bridges and similar articles consisting of a glass rod 54 LAMP BRIDGE FORMING M ACHINE WITH WIRE or other support element having several short wires embedded CUTTING AND GUIDING MEANS m the rod or element. machine is provided havmga rotating 4 Claims, 23 Drawing Figs. turret mounting a series of spaced wire support dies. These dies are loaded with a predetermined number of short wires at [52] v U. S. Cl. 140/1, 3 Series f ni n oriented wire f d heads The wire fe d 29/252 65/139: 140/140 headsiare arranged for precisely positioning and feeding short [51] Int. Cl C03b 23/14 lengths of wire into the dies and are arranged to handle such Fleld of Search /138, wires of varying diameters and engflw After the dies are filled 139, 142, 154, 155; 29/2519, 25.2; 221/ 1; /1, at the wire feed heads with the appropriate number of wires, 140 ,93a the rotating ,die support turret then moves the wire filled dies 56 R f C} ed first to a rod feeding station where rods are loaded onto the l 1 e erences I dies and thereafter the dies are moved to a series of rod heat- UNITED STATES PATENTS ing and pressing stations where the wire ends are imbedded in 2,802,308 8/1957 Flaws, Jr. et al. 65/139 the support rods.

J J 5 o i '1 r E s l Q e 1 Q I g g Q Q a 1 g Q Q 5 Q Q PATENTEUJANIZIQII 3.554.241

sum 2 or 9 INVENTORS MLL/A I 7- ENGEL BY 4, ,1 4: C. SOVDEJQ nmnhlww PATENIED JAN 1 21971 SHEET 7 OF 9 LWQ H w; .W w r A w. am we PATENTEU JAN 1 2 9n 3554:2111

SHEET 8 BF 9 TILEI.1&.

I N VENTORS MILL/4M 7.- 60'664.

. v BY /m C. SOMQEQ TLEIED. 7 MIMM/ LAMP BRIDGE FORMING MACHINE WITH WIRE CUTTING AND GUIDING MEANS The present invention relates to a method and means for automatically assembling or forming lamp bridge elements which consist of several short lengths of wire embedded in a glass support rod and relates more particularly to an improved machine for automatically inserting varying numbers of wires of varying lengths and diameters in glass insulators of varying sizes and lengths.

The lamp bridges manufactured by the machine and method of the present invention areused in large numbers in incandescent lamps and in vacuum tubes and other similar devices. It is desirable to have a means forforming the bridges which will compare in capacity and adaptability to bridge design changes with the present means .available for manufacturing other portions of the lamps and tubes. It is particularly desirable for the machine itself to be easily adjusted from time to time for handling bridges of differing designs. Prior automatic machines, which generally use horizontal feeds or other feed arrangements, have a limited capacity to change the number and sizes of wires which they will handle and they also lack the necessary flexibility in handling varying bridge designs particularly where it is necessary to change from one design to another for a succession of relatively short runs.

The present machine provides an improved apparatusand method based upon a vertical feed of the'wire supply in combination with a rotating turret interchangeably mounting a number of bridge forming dies. The vertical wire feed used is both accessible and readily adjustable for differing sizes or lengths of wire. The use of the rotating turret and a number of support dies removable positioned thereon permits a rapid change of the dies to accommodate them to both differing wire sizes and lengths as well as to changes'in the insulator or support design. A unique funnel-type control of the wire feed is also provided to permit an efficient cooperation between the above described wire feed and the turret and die mechanism as will be more fully described below.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved method and means for manufacturing the lamp bridges.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved method and means for manufacturing lamp bridges particularly adapted'for handling variations in bridge design.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved vertically oriented clamp bridge manufacturing machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bridge manufacturing machine utilizing a' turret support means for feeding a series of removably mounted wire dies.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described or will be indicated in the appended'claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art uponemployment of the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for the purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification, wherein:

FIG. Us a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the bridge making machine in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the machine in FIG; I illustrating a wire feeding head; v

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the wire feed head of FIG. 2; 7

FIG; 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3; Y 7

FIGS. 5 and 6 are fragmentary vertical sectional'views of the lower portions of the wire feed illustrating two successive positions during a wire feed sequence;

FIG. 7 is a FIG. 8 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line 88 on FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the wire feeding head of FIGS. 2 and 3;

' FIG. 10 is a vertical sectional view of the lift mechanism for the wire feed funnel taken along line 10-10 on FIG. 11;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary perspective view partially cut away illustrating the lower portion of the wire feed including the wire cutter, the wire feeding funnel, and a bridge die;

FIG. 12 is a vertical sectional view of the bridge forming die of FIGS. 13 through 19;

FIGS. 13 through 19 are fragmentary detailed perspective views of a wire die illustrating the bridge forming steps;

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of a completed lamp bridge;

FIG. 21 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view illustrating the clamp operation of a dual wire feed;

FIG. 22 is a diagrammatic plan view of the machine turret showing a preferred arrangement of the bridge fonning stations; and

FIG. 23 is a rear elevational view partially in section of a wire feeding head.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION The new machine and method willfirst be described with general reference to FIGS. 1 and 22 and with particular reference to certain other detailed FIGS. as indicated.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 the machine 1 has a raised table or base 2 which mounts the rotating bridge die support turret 3 for presenting the bridge dies 4 in succession to vertically aligned wire feeding heads 5 mounted at the rear of the machine base 2.

A typical bridge 6 as formed in the machine is illustrated in detail in FIG. 21. It is seen to include a glass support or insulating rod 7 which has a series of wires 8 of differing length and diameter embedded into the glass. This wire bridge 6 is formed on the machine 1 by the general method of presenting the .wire receiving bridge dies 4 successively beneath the wire feeding heads 5. Each wire feeding head feeds either one or two lengths of wire into suitably spaced holes 9 in the dies 4 as illustrated, for example, in FIGS. I3 and 14 where short lengths of the wire 8 are shown being dropped into the die 4 utilizing a wire guide funnel 10 which is lowered against the top of the die 4 as the length of wire 8 is guided into the die 4.

The dies are carried beneath the appropriate number of wire feeding heads 5 at Stations I, II, III or IV to receive the number of wires required and thereafter the rotating turret 3 carries the filled die 4, as illustrated in FIG. 15, to a glass rod feeding station VI where a conventional rod feeder drops a short length of glass rod 7 onto the die 4 as illustrated in detail in FIG. 16. The die 4 is now advanced to a series of heating stations such as Stations VII, VIII and IX illustrated in FIGS. 17 and 22 for heating the glass rod and then is movedto an additional series of stations including Stations X, XI and XII where additional heating flames are particularly directed against the ends of the glass wires 8 and the rod 7.

With the glass rod 7 now heated to the proper temperature and the ends of the wires 8 heated, the glass tube is pressed over the ends of the wires 8 by a pressing tool 12 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 18.

After moving to cooling tires at Stations XIV and XV. the completed bridge 6 is unloaded at Station XVI by a tool 13 as illustrated in FIG. 19.

The turret 3 is arranged to be intermittently indexed to move the dies 4 to the several stations described above and to pause in position at the stations for the necessary interval. This 7 result is obtained by mounting the turret 3 on a suitable vertical shaft on the base 2 and by coupling the shaft to a conventional Fergusson or Geneva drive arranged with the appropriate dwell and advance periods, These drives are coupled to an electric drive motor in the usual fashion and appropriate cam shafts for operating the mechanical portions of the wire 5 feeding means by rotating cams are also coupled to the drive motor in the usual manner in the base 2. No detailed description is necessary of these conventional elements.

THE WIRE FEEDING HEADS In order to perform the above described vertically oriented wire feed to supply the appropriate number of wires 8 to the dies 4, the wire feeding heads are mounted as indicated on the machine base 2 and they are driven in synchronism with the indexed turret by having their moving elements coupled to the turret drive system through appropriate cams driven through geared couplings to the turret indexing motor.

FIGS. 2, 3 and 9 illustrate the general arrangement of the wire feeding heads 5 for two wires. A single wire feeding head is similar with the second wire spool and other elements eliminated. As best seen in FIG. 2, each head 5 includes a vertical mounting post having the wire feed spools 21 replaceable mounted at its upper end on brackets 22. The wires 8 are fed over suitable feed pulleys 23 and through conventional jiggering or straightening devices 24, one of which is provided for each wire fed. The jiggering devices 24 are rotated in the known manner by drive motors 25. The wires 8 after they leave the jiggering or straightening devices 24, are next fed over suitable guide pulleys 26 and spring tensioning pads 27 on brackets 28 to the wire advancing jaws 29. As will be more fully explained below, these jaws 29 are reciprocated vertically and are arranged to close on the wires 8 during their downward movement to advance each wire a predetermined distance. Below the jaws 29, a wire cutter 30 is positioned to cut off a portion of the wire 8 equal to the length of the wire advance. Immediately beneath cutting jaws 30, a wire guiding funnel 31 is reciprocally mounted. These funnels 31, as will be more fully described below, are precisely positioned and are moved downwardly during the time when the wire die 4 is stationary at a wire feeding head 5 to insure the precise positioning of the cut wire 8 with respect to the die 4 and so that the wire 8 drops quickly and precisely into the proper die hole 9. Prior to the advance of the turret 3 to move a die 4 over to the next wire feeding head 5 or to the glass rod feeding station VI, a guide funnel 31 is raised to clear the die 4 and also to clear the previously fed wires 8 thus permitting the turret 3 to advance.

WIRE FEED JAWS In the machine described above, it is necessary to advance each wire 8 a precise distance for each wire loading operation where the distance of wire advance is equal to the length of the particular wire 8 to be included in the finished bridge 6. This advance is performed by the clamping and advancing jaw means 29 as best illustrated in FIGS. 4, 7, 21 and 23.

The wire advancing jaws 29 are mounted for vertical movement on a stationary support rod 33 attached to the brackets 28 and 34 bolted to the wire feeding head post 20. Up and down movement of the jaws 29 on the guide rod 33 is controlled by cam operated rocker arm 35 pivotally attached to the wire feeding post 20 at 36. A connecting link 37 is pivotally attached to the rocker arm at its upper end 38 and to the jaws 29 at its lower end. The rocker arm 35 is driven through its necessary cycle by having its rear end 39 pivotally attached to a vertical drive rod 40. The drive rod 40 has its lower end coupled to a suitable cam drive means (not shown). As already indicated, the various drive cams are coupled to the turret drive for synchronized movement with the turret and the other driven portions of the machine.

The distance that the feed jaws 29 engage the wires and pull them down during downward movement of the jaws 29 controls the length of the individual wires 8 to be cut and lowered into the dies 4. An adjustable attachment between rod 40 and rocker 35 permits the length of this stroke to be varied. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the pivotal coupling 39 between the drive rod 40 and the rear end of the rocker arm 35 includes the elongated coupling slot 41. A positioning screw 42 is preferably included in this attachment to provide a precise control of the positioning of the pivot 39 lengthwise of the slot 41.

In order to provide the above described wire feeding movement, the wire gripping jaws 29 including including a fixed outer jaw element 44 and an inner jaw 45 FIGS. 7 and 21) slidably mounted within a bracket 46 and positioned for being moved into clamping engagement with the wires 8 being fed by means of a pivotally mounted crank 47 and a coupling line 48. The crank 47 has a cam roller 49 on its outer end which is yieldably urged against a vertical jaw closing cam 50 by means ofa compressed coil spring 51. The top of the jaw closing cam 50 is seen in FIG. 7 and this cam 50 is also illustrated in FIG. 23. It is seen that the vertical movement of the clamp 29 through the above described rocker arm system will cause the crank roller 49 to move up and down the forward face of the jaw closing cam 50.

The control cam 50 for jaw closing is seen in FIG. 23 to be mounted on a vertical pivotally mounted shaft 53 to permit movement of the cam 50 away from the crank roller 49 during downward movement of the jaws 29 to permit the wire engaging jaw elements 44 and 45 to remain closed. The necessary intermittent rotation of the shaft 53 to open the jaws by ad vancing cam 50 is provided by crank 54 illustrated in FIG. 23 on the bottom of shaft 53 and which is turned by a properly shaped cam synchronized with the machine drive system as indicated above.

The above described jaws 29 are seen to include jaw elements 44 and 45 having provision for advancing a pair of wires 8. It is clear that this wire advancing means may be used for other numbers of wires. For example, jaws having a single wire gripping element are used at the single wire feeding station lV.

WIRE CUTTER The wire cutter 30 is illustrated in detail in FIGS. 4 to 6 and 8 to 11. As already indicated, cutter head 30 is provided to cut the desired length of wire 8 for the finished bridge. The cutter includes a bracket 60 fixedly mounted on the vertical post 20. Cutting action is obtained by a knife support member 61 slidably mounted on the bracket 60 and held in its inactive position away from the wire 8 by a compressed coil spring 62. A knife 63 is moved into engagement with the wire 8 against a stationary cutter 64 through the intermediation of the bell crank 65 pivotally mounted at 66. The crank 65 is rotated in a clockwise direction to provide a cutting action through the intermediation of the vertical drive bar 67 coupled at its lower end to a cutting cam 68 positioned in the base 2 and synchronized with the other members as already indicated.

WIRE GUIDE FUNNELS The above described machine as indicated is capable of feeding wires 8 of varying lengths and diameter as needed into the dies 4 for forming the individual bridges 6. In order to insure precise locating of the cut wire 8 and its rapid entrance into the die 4 as in the feeding movement illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14, it has been found desirable to include a wire guide means 10 in the form of a movable funnel member 31. This funnel 31 is moved downwardly against the proper wire hole 9 in the die 4 during the dwell period for the die by means which will now be described and is thereafter raised both to clear the previously fed wires as well as the adjacent mounting members for the individual dies.

The guiding funnels 31 are illustrated in position on a feed head at 69 in FIG. 2 and are shown in greater detail in FIGS. 5 and 6. Each funnel includes a support bracket 70 detachably mounting the individual guide funnel 31. The bracket 70 is attached to the upper end of a vertical lift rod 71 slidably mounted in the bearing 72. The lower guide arm 75 attached to the bottom of the lift rod 71 stabilizes the funnel 31 through its engagement with a short vertical cam rod 74. The lift rod 71 is urged downwardly towards its lower position where the funnel 31 engages the wire holding die 4 by coil spring 73. The rod 71 is lifted clear of the previously inserted wires 8 and the die holders 4 by being coupled to a lifting bracltet 70' attached to the above described jaw holder as illustrated in FIGS. and 11. The downward feed movement of the wire 8 by the jaw holder therefore'also lowers the guiding funnels 31 into position by downward movementof the arm 70 and whereby the funnel 31 moves from position shown in FIG. 5 to its feeding position as shown in FIG. 6.

It will be seen that an improved method and means has been provided for automatically assembling lamp bridges consisting of a glass insulating and support rod mounting a variety of shortsupport wires as needed for a particular lamp. The machine is particularly useful for successively assembling bridges of differing designs including differing numbers of wires and wire'sizes andlen'gths and this adjustability is particularly facilitated by the vertical wire feed combined with the rotating die means for advancinga series of bridge forming dies successively to the wire feeds.

It is clear that this general arrangement is particularly advantageous inperrnitting the wire lengths and diameters to be varied and also in permitting the bridge assembling dies as mounted on the rotating table to be themselves adjusted or replaced as the particularbridge design may require. The above advantages have been i'ncorporatedin a machine capable of handling relatively fine wires at high speeds thereby adapting the bridge forming machine for utilization with other related modern high speed lamp making equipment.

As various changes may be made in the'form, construction and arrangement of the parts herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understood that allmatter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

We claim:

l. A machine for forming lamp bridges comprising the combination of:

a. a rotatably mounted turret;

b. a plurality of spaced wire dies positioned at the outer portion of the turret with each die having means for holding a plurality'of wires therein;

c. vertically oriented wire feeding means positioned at the periphery of the turret including means for periodically advancing wire of indeterminate length downwardly;

d. a cutter positioned at the periphery of the turret for severing the lower end of the wire at a point spaced above a wire die;

e. movable means mounted independently of the cutter at the periphery of the turret for guiding the severed portions of the wires downwardly to the wire dies, said guiding means comprising wire guide funnels having a vertically oriented wire guiding aperture with a flared upper portion for receiving the lowerends of the severed wires;

f. drive means for moving the funnel from a position adjacent the cutter to a position adjacent to the-wire dies; and i g. means at the periphery of the turret to thereafter attach a 5 bridge support to wires held in said diesto form the lamp bridges.

2. A wire feeding ineans'for cutting'a short length of wire from the end of an indeterminate length of wire and for inserting the cut length into a wire receiving aperture in a die l0 member comprising the combination of:

a. a wire cutter;

b. means for periodically moving the cutter into cutting engagement with the length of wire;

0. a wire guide positioned below the cutter, said guide com prising a funnel having a wire feeding aperture with a flared upper portion;

d. mounting means attached to the guide; and

e. drive means for moving the guide axially of the wire independently of the cutter vertically between the die member and the cutter. I

3. A machine for forming lamp bridges comprising the com bination of:

a. a rotatable turret; b. wire dies positioned on the periphery of the turret having means to hold wire therein;

c. vertically oriented wire feeding means at the periphery of the turret to advance wire downwardly towards the dies; d. a cutter at the periphery of the turret for severing the lower end of the wire above the dies;

e. a moveable apertured wire guide mounted independently of the cutter at the periphery of the turret for guiding cut portions of the wire downwardly to the wire dies;

f. drive means for moving the wire guide axially of the wire from a position adjacent to the cutter to a position adjacent the wire dies; and

g. means at the periphery of the turret to thereafter attach a bridge support to the wire held in the dies to form lamp bridges.

4. A wire feeding means for cutting a short length of wire 40 from the end of a wire of indeterminate length and for inserting the cut length mm a wire die spaced from the cutting means comprising the combination of:

a. a wire cutter; b. means for moving the cutter into cutting engagement with the wire; 1

'c. a wire guide having an aperture formed therein through which the wire passes; d. mounting means attached to the guide; and e. drive means for moving the guide means axially of the wire independently of the cutter vertically between the cutter and the die. 

1. A machine for forming lamp bridges comprising the combination of: a. a rotatably mounted turret; b. a plurality of spaced wire dies positioned at the outer portion of the turret with each die having means for holding a plurality of wires therein; c. vertically oriented wire feeding means positioned at the periphery of the turret including means for periodically advancing wire of indeterminate length downwardly; d. a cutter positioned at the periphery of the turret for severing the lower end of the wire at a point spaced above a wire diE; e. movable means mounted independently of the cutter at the periphery of the turret for guiding the severed portions of the wires downwardly to the wire dies, said guiding means comprising wire guide funnels having a vertically oriented wire guiding aperture with a flared upper portion for receiving the lower ends of the severed wires; f. drive means for moving the funnel from a position adjacent the cutter to a position adjacent to the wire dies; and g. means at the periphery of the turret to thereafter attach a bridge support to wires held in said dies to form the lamp bridges.
 2. A wire feeding means for cutting a short length of wire from the end of an indeterminate length of wire and for inserting the cut length into a wire receiving aperture in a die member comprising the combination of: a. a wire cutter; b. means for periodically moving the cutter into cutting engagement with the length of wire; c. a wire guide positioned below the cutter, said guide comprising a funnel having a wire feeding aperture with a flared upper portion; d. mounting means attached to the guide; and e. drive means for moving the guide axially of the wire independently of the cutter vertically between the die member and the cutter.
 3. A machine for forming lamp bridges comprising the combination of: a. a rotatable turret; b. wire dies positioned on the periphery of the turret having means to hold wire therein; c. vertically oriented wire feeding means at the periphery of the turret to advance wire downwardly towards the dies; d. a cutter at the periphery of the turret for severing the lower end of the wire above the dies; e. a moveable apertured wire guide mounted independently of the cutter at the periphery of the turret for guiding cut portions of the wire downwardly to the wire dies; f. drive means for moving the wire guide axially of the wire from a position adjacent to the cutter to a position adjacent the wire dies; and g. means at the periphery of the turret to thereafter attach a bridge support to the wire held in the dies to form lamp bridges.
 4. A wire feeding means for cutting a short length of wire from the end of a wire of indeterminate length and for inserting the cut length into a wire die spaced from the cutting means comprising the combination of: a. a wire cutter; b. means for moving the cutter into cutting engagement with the wire; c. a wire guide having an aperture formed therein through which the wire passes; d. mounting means attached to the guide; and e. drive means for moving the guide means axially of the wire independently of the cutter vertically between the cutter and the die. 